What Doctors Don’t Tell You

398 Pages·2016·2.36 MB·English

by  Lynne McTaggart

WHAT DOCTORS DON’T TELL YOU
The truth about the dangers of modern medicine
LYNNE McTAGGART
Copyright
Every illness and every patient is unique. This book is intended as a source of information only. Readers are
urged to work in partnership with a qualified, experienced practitioner before undertaking (or refraining
from) any treatments listed in these pages.
Thorsons Element
An Imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers
1 London Bridge Street
London SE1 9GF
www.harpercollins.co.uk
and Thorsons are trademarks of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd
First published by Thorsons 1996
This revised and updated edition 2005
© Lynne McTaggart
Lynne McTaggart asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work
A catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library
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Praise for What Doctors Don’t Tell You
‘This groundbreaking book … has potential to save lives. Stunning stuff!’
Kathryn Marsden, author of The Food Combining Diet
‘A hugely impressive book, and the finest critique of modern medical practice I
have yet read. Lynne McTaggart takes a scalpel straight to the heart of
medicine’s most cherished dogmas. Essential reading …’ Peter Cox, health
campaigner and bestselling author
‘A mine of subversive information … irresistibly argued. Lynne McTaggart is a
very big thorn in the side of the medical propaganda machine.’ Dr Keith Mumby,
allergy specialist and author of The Allergy Handbook
‘Introduces some welcome sanity by its critical appraisal of the value of many
diagnostic and treatment procedures, especially the unbelievable escalation in
the use of symptom-suppressive drugs. Excellent, stimulating … and a
thoroughly good read.’ Dr John Mansfield, former President of the British
Society for Allergy and Environmental Medicine
‘Extremely provocative and meticulously researched … should be part of the
medical cabinet in every household in this country. I have long admired Lynne
McTaggart’s pioneering spirit, vision and courage, and this book exemplifies it.’
Kitty Campion, practitioner and author
‘A courageous book! I congratulate Lynne McTaggart on her passion, research
and indefatigable efforts to bring information to the public that can help people
to take control of their own lives.’ Leslie Kenton, broadcaster and bestselling
author
‘This book dispels so many harmful medical myths and gives people back the
freedom of informed choice. Essential reading for those facing medical
intervention.’ Patrick Holford, director of the Institute for Optimum Nutrition
Praise for Lynne McTaggart’s newsletter What

Doctors Don’t Tell You
‘What Doctors … has an impressive track record for alerting readers to potential
problems …’ Women’s Journal
‘Information that is scientific yet easy for parents to digest is sparse … What
Doctors Don’t Tell You provides much damning evidence.’ Guardian
‘Every month What Doctors Don’t Tell You … rings the alarm bells on
procedures well before they become the stuff of national panic.’ Observer
‘What Doctors Don’t Tell You … brings together unpublicised medical
information.’ Independent
‘What Doctors Don’t Tell You has easy to read and up to date reports on drug
side effects.’ Daily Mail
‘A voice in the silence.’ The Times
Praise from her readers
‘Well done with all your efforts to educate, inform, guide and empower people to
be active carers and protectors of their own health. Keep the momentum growing
and growing.’ I. L., Suffolk
‘An excellent, compelling and informative read. It should be essential reading
for everyone!’ E.W., East Sussex
‘I had a reasonable knowledge of the possible pitfalls of drug therapy, but your
wide-ranging, well-written and easy-to-understand information has heightened
my awareness of this most important subject and you are performing a much-
needed and vital service to us all.’ M. G., Bedfordshire
‘As a medical doctor, I am really pleased with What Doctors … and the special
work you are doing.’ Dr M. S., Beirut
‘Several years ago I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis … A chance
discussion put me on the track of your newsletter, which linked MS-type
symptoms with the Pill I’d been taking. Had I listened to my GP and neurologist,
I would probably be in a wheelchair. Thank you, What Doctors Don’t Tell You,
for saving my life.’ D. J., Norfolk
‘Recently, my mother-in-law was diagnosed with breast cancer. I cannot tell you
how encouraging your newsletter was to the whole family … She is faring well
and confident she is making the right decisions thanks to your timely advice.’ J.
B., Jersey
‘Instead of suffering from asthma, unwillingly forced into the last-ditch resort of
taking steroids in order to have any sort of liveable life, I am virtually free of it
and, to boot, have lost a surplus two stone. This is all attributable to your
informative publications.’ M.B.C.P.-B., Cornwall
‘After a wonderful uncomplicated start in life, my baby contracted whooping
cough. Thank you, WDDTY, for putting together so much information. It was
you and your publication which put me on the path of being informed. My son
made a full recovery. I will be for ever indebted.’ Janet, Berkshire
‘My husband was given three months to live two years ago due to prostate
cancer. By reading your newsletter and the information you provide, I contacted
the right people and he started an alternative therapy. It succeeded and he was
later told that he was clear of cancer. Thank you for being you.’ M. R., Dyfed
‘Two months ago I could barely walk more than 50 yards or stand in the queue at
the Post Office. Chronic lower back pain was the problem … now thanks to
WDDTY I ramble and cycle miles and miles without pain.’ R. P., Norfolk
‘I was told I had glaucoma and was going blind. I developed a diet and
supplement programme based on your information, and two months later I had
my eyes examined again, and there was no sign of glaucoma any more.’ G. R.,
Edinburgh
Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Praise for What Doctors Don’t Tell You
Dedication
Introduction
Part I: medicine’s False Science
Chapter 1: The Un-science of Modern Medicine
Part II: Diagnosis
Chapter 2: Diagnostic Excess
Chapter 3: Prenatal Testing: Dead Certainty
Chapter 4: Catching It Early
Part III: Prevention
Chapter 5: Crazy about Cholesterol: Medicine’s Red Herring
Chapter 6: Vaccination: Knee-jerk Jabs
Chapter 7: Hormonal Mayhem
Part IV: Treatment
Chapter 8: Miracle Cures
Chapter 9: Dental Medicine: Safe until Proven Dangerous
Part V: Surgery
Chapter 10: Standard Operating Procedure
Chapter 11: Gee-whizz Technology: The Video-games Wizard and
Blocked-drains Mechanic
Part VI: Taking Control
Chapter 12: Taking Control
Keep Reading
Index
Further Resources
Acknowledgements
About the Author
Notes
Also by the Author
About the Publisher
Dedication
For Bryan
Introduction
This book was born from a grand passion I once had: a passion to get better.
In the early eighties, after an extraordinary patch of bad choices, I underwent
a prolonged bout of stress. In every profoundly important area of my life, green
lights I’d always taken for granted suddenly began turning red. If I had taken one
of those little tests you find in women’s magazines that add up your stress
quotient – with death, marriage, divorce and moving the most stressful situations
– my sums would have leapt off the chart.
In rapid succession I’d struggled under an impossible book deadline, married
Mr Wrong, divorced Mr Wrong, bought the wrong flat, accepted the wrong job,
suffered the death of a close friend, incurred several large debts, and spent a
prolonged period of intense isolation in a foreign country. I couldn’t, in those
days, even get a good haircut.
Shortly after emerging from the eye of this personal squall, I began to
experience strange symptoms, at first your workaday ‘female problems’ –
everything from ferocious premenstrual tension and irregular periods to cystitis
and almost constant vaginal infections.
As time wore on, my symptoms multiplied: eczema, hives and allergies to a
load of food and chemicals; diarrhoea and an irritable bowel; insomnia and night
sweats; and severe depression. I had felt powerless for so long that my body
seemed to be reacting in parallel, caving in under any sort of microbial
onslaught.
For nearly all of the three years that I was ill, I made the rounds of medical
circles – first the standard ones, then the periphery, with nutritionists and
homoeopaths, and finally the very outer rim, from breathing specialists to
Bioenergeticists. By the autumn of 1986 I was hacking my way though the dense
thicket of New Age therapies. I tried breathing from the abdomen. I had the
negative emotions Rolfed out of me. Somebody tried to diagnose me by
subjecting my hair sample to radio waves. I ploughed through autogenic
training, colonic irrigation and even a form of psychotherapy – a mixture of
Wilhelm Reich and what felt like being tickled on the face. I learned something
about my relationship with my mother. But I did not, at any point, get better.
By the summer of 1987 a sense of hopelessness descended over me. The worst